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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23193478">A Hollow End</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/archivist_lan/pseuds/archivist_lan'>archivist_lan</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Hollow Men - T. S. Eliot, This is How You Lose the Time War - Amal El-Mohtar &amp; Max Gladstone</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Enemies to Lovers, F/F</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 06:28:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>481</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23193478</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/archivist_lan/pseuds/archivist_lan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>This is the way the war ends / This is the way the war ends<br/>This is the way the war ends / Tucked in the seed of a letter.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Blue/Red (This is How You Lose the Time War)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Hollow End</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p3">she’s dead.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p3">and you pick up the pieces</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">I</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">W</span>e were the agents,</p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">W</span>e were the travelers,</p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">R</span>oaming alone</p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">O</span>bjectives hard opposed. Alas!</p><p class="p3">Our letters, as</p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">W</span>e skimmed and braided strands</p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">W</span>ere vast and seeking</p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">A</span>s suns born in ages past</p><p class="p3">Or centenary blooms on planets unmasked</p><p class="p3">On lone and level sands.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">S</span>hape of abundant forms, color of infinity,</p><p class="p3">A force and a gesture, in stillness and motion,</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p3">You who have descended</p><p class="p3">With double-banked eyes, to that final hidden Shift</p><p class="p3">Remember me— if at all — not as the Agency’s</p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">D</span>esperate fool<span class="s1">, </span>but only</p><p class="p3">As your echo,</p><p class="p3">Your last goodbye.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">II</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">H</span>ues I dare not name in dreams</p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">I</span>n the Garden’s dream kingdom</p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">D</span>o appear:</p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">H</span>ere, you are not yet</p><p class="p3">A sunlight-broken weapon</p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">H</span>ere, beneath a rope swinging</p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">Y</span>ou lay and dream</p><p class="p3">Of the wind’s singing</p><p class="p3">Your hunger not yet rooted</p><p class="p3">In who you are.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p3">Let me draw near</p><p class="p3">In your green dream kingdom</p><p class="p3">Let me also wear</p><p class="p3">Such deliberate disguises</p><p class="p3">Bird bones, colored lights, crushed porcelain</p><p class="p3">Through grass</p><p class="p1">Behaving as <span class="s2">a blade</span> behaves</p><p class="p3">And nearer—</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p3">Till that final communion</p><p class="p3">In the thornéd kingdom</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">III</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p3">This is the dead land</p><p class="p3">This is cactus land</p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">H</span>ere the gone citizens</p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">W</span>ere razed, here their ghosts receive</p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">The </span>supplication of an echo’s hand</p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">U</span>nder the shadow of a gathering storm.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p3">Is it like this</p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">W</span>here you are,</p><p class="p3">Waking alone</p><p class="p3">At the hour when we are</p><p class="p3">Trembling with tenderness</p><p class="p3">Lips that would kiss</p><p class="p3">Form prayers to trunkless stone<span class="s1">.</span></p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">IV</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">Y</span>ou are not here</p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">Y</span>ou were never here</p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">I</span>n this cell that is your world</p><p class="p3">In this hollow valley</p><p class="p3">This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p3">In this last of meeting places</p><p class="p3">I cry out alone</p><p class="p3">and stripped of words,</p><p class="p3">Gathered by the walls of this barren prison</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p3">Sightless, unless</p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">Y</span>ou reappear</p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">Y</span>our curved smile</p><p class="p3">A multifoliate rose</p><p class="p3">Sheathed in hunger’s horcrux workings,</p><p class="p3">Only too late</p><p class="p3">To halt my final end.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">V</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p3">This is the way to win the war</p><p class="p3">To win the war, to win the war</p><p class="p3">This is the way to win the war</p><p class="p3">At five o'clock in the morning.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">B</span>etween the word</p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">A</span>nd the presence</p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">B</span>etween the fire</p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">A</span>nd the wound</p><p class="p3">Falls the Shadow</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p3">For yours is the Kingdom</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Between the conception</p><p class="p1">And the creation</p><p class="p1">Between the <span class="s2">bridge</span></p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">And </span>its fracture</p><p class="p3">Falls the Shadow</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p3">Life is far too long</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">B</span>etween the rear</p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">A</span>nd the snap</p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">B</span>etween the hunger</p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">A</span>nd its consummation</p><p class="p3">Between the knowing</p><p class="p1">And the <span class="s2">plummet</span></p><p class="p3">Falls the Shadow</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p3">For yours is the Kingdom</p><p class="p4"> </p><p class="p3">For yours is</p><p class="p3">Life is</p><p class="p3">For yours is the</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p3">This is the way the war ends</p><p class="p3">This is the way the war ends</p><p class="p3">This is the way the war ends</p><p class="p3">Tucked in the seed of a letter.</p>
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